Links, References & Credits

Links

First stop of course is The Vulcan to the Sky Trust who operate XH558 and are always on the scrounge for money to keep the aircraft... taxiing.
Because, of course, she is no longer a flyer.

XM655 is looked after by the 655 Maintenance and Preservation Society at Wellesbourne.
Never likely to fly, and with no efforts towards that goal, XM655 is however kept in running condition and makes fast taxi runs.

The Vulcan Restoration Trust also look after a Vulcan - theirs is
XL426, XH558's predecessor as the Vulcan display aircraft.

Andy Leitch flew on 617 and 44(R) Squadrons in the 1970s and took a load of pictures, some of which are
shown off on his site, Vulcans in Camera. Some superb and rare shots - a real
change from the usual Vulcan fare to be found on the net - go - now!

References - Books

Vulcan 607 by Rowland White

ISBN 0593053915

Published by Bantam Press, 2006

An excellent and riveting account of the first Black Buck mission to bomb the runway at Port Stanley during
the Falklands War in 1982. The author has clearly put a great deal of effort into his research, but has not
produced the sort of dry technical account that so many would in his place - instead, it reads almost like a novel
at times. The mission is covered right from the Argentine invasion through all the preparations to the flight
itself, with all sorts of fascinating detail thrown in along the way. Thoroughly recommended.

Warpaint No.30 Avro Vulcan by Kev Darling

ISSN 1361-0369

Published by Hall Park Books, 2001

Another good addition to the pretty reliable Warpaint series, this
volume concentrates on the aircraft from a modeller's point of view with colour profiles, plan drawings and development and
service history. I do have to declare an interest though - some of my pictures are in this book.

Warbird Tech volume 26 - Avro Vulcan by Kev Darling

ISBN 1-58007-023-X

Published by Airlife Publishing

In common
with the other Warbird Tech books, this one concentrates on the development and service history but
also technical aspects of the aircraft, with lots of pictures and diagrams illustrating the
various systems onboard a Vulcan. Very little colour, but well worth getting; particularly useful
if you're super-detailing a model Vulcan. I do have to declare an interest again though - some of my pictures
are in this book too.

Legends of The Air 5 - Vulcan, Boeing B-47 & B-52 by Stewart Wilson

ISBN 1-875671-27-7

Published by Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd.

While only a third of this book is devoted
to the Vulcan, it's still worth getting for that alone - a great account of both development
and service history, description of the variants with plan views and colour side views, and a
great selection of photos of Vulcans in their prime in the 1960s and 1970s. And I suppose if you're
partial to big Boeing bombers the other two sections of the book may be of interest! Possibly not
worth getting if you already have the Wings of Fame volume (see below) but it does have a number of
rare pictures of Vulcans visiting Australia and New Zealand so true addicts should still go for it.

Vulcan Super Profile by Christopher Chant

ISBN 0-85429-436-8

Published by Haynes, 1984

A largely pictorial look at the Vulcan's history and covering the usual ground with nothing to
distinguish it from weightier publications apart from larger than normal reproduction of some of the pictures (which tend to be familiar ones).

Modern Combat Aircraft: 11 - V-Bombers by Robert Jackson

ISBN 1 901945 03 0

Published by Ian Allan Ltd./Book Law Publications

A book on the entire V-Force, but good Vulcan coverage and even
a full section on the Blue Steel ASM. Recently reprinted, though no updates have been made to the
book (originally published in 1981) so it's rather out of date.

Wings of Fame volume 3

ISBN 1 874023 70 0

Published by Aerospace Publishing Ltd.

The
ever-excellent series of volumes includes this one which is worth buying for the Vulcan article alone.
Lavishly illustrated with photos, a colour gate-fold, 3-views, 3D cutaway, detail pictures (of XH558!),
has an excellent development and service history plus individual aircraft histories.

References - Magazines

The Aeroplane, 6th December 1957: includes an article on Vulcan production.

Aircraft Illustrated, April 1983: Where have all the Vulcans gone? Rundown of the fates
of all Vulcans at the time with black and white pictures of Cosford's late lamented B.1 XA900 and
another Vulcan now lost - B.2 XM569 - landing at Cardiff Airport (where it was scrapped in 1995, only
the nose section surviving).

Aircraft Illustrated, June 1984: Vulcan farewell - article on the last Vulcan scramble with
a few black and white pictures (only one of the scramble though!) plus A Vulcan Venture - article on
XM655's arrival at Wellesbourne Mountford and the original plans to get her flying in Roy Jacobsen's care. Several
black and white pictures plus one full page, full colour shot of XM655 on her last flight.

Aircraft Illustrated, November 1996: Flying The Vulcan - an extract from Andrew Brooke's book
(see above). A good article with some monochrome pictures, memories from pilots who flew the Vulcan.
Gives you a good idea of the quality of the full book.

AIR Pictorial May 1974: Avro Vulcan by Elfan ap Rees - part 1 of an excellent two part article, covering
design and development including the Avro 707s and the Vulcan B.1.

AIR Pictorial June 1974: Avro Vulcan by Elfan ap Rees - part 2 of an excellent two part article, covering
further development, the B.2 and squadron service.

AIR Pictorial July 1983: Operation "Black Buck" - good article on the Falklands raids with some
rare monochrome pictures.

Airfix Magazine, May 1984: review of Airfix kit on p 787.

Airfix Magazine, June 1984L picture on front cover, article on building
Airfix kit with four pictures on pp 843 to 848.

AIR Pictorial, March 1982: Vulcan Sortie with the "Dambusters" - Malcolm English's article
on a flight in 617 squadron's B.2 XL318 (now in the RAF Museum) with several black and white pictures
and a full page (inner cover) full colour picture of B.2 XM574 taking off.

ExAir, November 1992: three pictures of XH558 on p 34.

FlyPast, October 1992: included a pull-out Classic Aircraft supplement dedicated to the
Vulcan, with some good pictures, a short history, list of survivors and a couple of pages on
the ultimately unsuccessful efforts to keep XH558 flying in RAF hands.

FlyPast, March 1993: Olympian Delta -
Ken Ellis' small article on the aftermath of the decision to sell XH558, printed before she was bought by
Dave Walton. Two colour pictures of XH558, plus two colour pictures of XM575 at East Midlands Aeropark
and XM605 at Castle Air Museum, plus a small note on Delta Engineering's acquisition of XM655 at
the time.

FlyPast, November 2000: The Perfect Delta -
Jack Talliss recalls a period of his RAF service spent testing Vulcan prototype VX770 with Rolls-Royce. Interesting
article with several monochrome pictures.

Jets Winter 1999: Vulcan special issue including history of XH558, an article on flying the Vulcan, survivor
listing, etc.

Military In Scale, December 1992: article on the Vulcan and a review of the Airfix kit
with many detail pictures of XL360 on pp 42 to 46.

Take Off numbers 15, 16 and 17: The V-Bomber story - a three-part article on the V-bombers,
including much coverage of Vulcan operations and some good pictures.